Letters - letters from August 2010

August '10

Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines

August, 2010

Letter of the month: The Pontiac Influence
Great magazine! I have every issue since October 2003. I subscribe to a lot of car magazines, but yours is the best by far. That's me in 1984 with my 1970 GTO. It had a 400, four-barrel and Hurst-shifted four-speed. It had 50,000 miles on it and I paid a whopping $2,000 for it. I no longer own it and, of course, I wish I had never gotten rid of it.

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I am a fan of all the muscle car brands, but I have owned many Pontiacs over the last 30 years and they are still my favorite. I currently own two Trans Ams. One is a 1987 GTA that is in good daily-driver condition; I have owned it for 10 years. The other is a 2002 Collector Edition Trans Am with low mileage, which is in near-mint condition. I rarely drive it, but I do give it lots of attention. It's definitely in the same league with my old goat and it has more bells and whistles. Even though the diehard muscle car guys do not recognize it as a true muscle car, I think it stands toe-to-toe with the best of them. When I win the lottery, I will get a GTO again.
The photo with the Collector Edition TA was taken 25 years later, to the month, from the first photo. A lot has changed since that photo, but my passion for a Pontiac with mean-looking hood scoops has not. I know other WS6 owners would enjoy reading an article on a Collector Edition. I rarely see them in magazines and I know HMM likes to cover all kinds of cars. I'll cross my fingers. Keep up the good work.
Kris Collins
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Plenty of us feel your pain, Kris, as countless muscle cars have been sold off for various reasons only to be missed for years to follow. It's good to see you haven't lost your taste for Pontiacs, though. We have, at different times, promoted the benefits of using later-model performance cars as a cost-effective means of getting a V-8 fix on a more regular basis, without the stress that comes from fretting over subjecting a valuable 40-year-old classic to commuter traffic and parking lots. Your GTA sounds like just the ticket for that.As for the '02 Trans Am, you're probably right about the current lack of respect that fourth-generation F-cars receive from muscle fans, but that's often the case with late-models of all makes. Fourth-gen F-cars were often criticized for poor interiors (see Jeff Koch's piece on the Berger Camaros in this issue), but their performance--especially on the LS1 versions--was outstanding at the time, and in fact, still holds up well today.Spotting an Old Friend
I was enjoying the photo of the Grabber Green Boss 302 on page 26 of HMM#81, June 2010 (''Two Grabbers, One Keeper,''). It wasn't until I began to read it that it hit me that this was my best friend's car from high school. I know this car; I've been in this car--I know this story and it's true! I've enclosed a couple pics of the Grabber Green Mach 1 Joe owned; the other Grabber that wasn't the keeper. For a short time, he had both--what a cool driveway! It's pictured along with my Hugger Orange Camaro; I've kept the photo because I've always thought it was such a classic, a Grabber Green Mustang with a Hugger Orange Camaro.
I had to let that Camaro go, but still have my '65 Mustang fastback hi-po, which Joe knew as my dad's car. I've lost touch with Joe over the years; I was saddened to learn he lost his dad, a real good guy to all of us back in the day. If you'd pass along my contact info, I'd love to hear from him.
David Ratti
Finksburg, Maryland
Though I'm a Chevy fan, I read any article on 1970 Boss 302 Mustangs, because I had one in the late Seventies and early Eighties. The Grabber Green '70 in the June issue was interesting in that the owner had the car so long.
Back in 1983, Donald Farr came out with a book, Mustang Boss 302. It has since become the holy grail of Boss Mustang books and I've seen it sell for over $200 on auction sites. My Boss is the Grabber Yellow car on the bottom of page 15 (my copy is also autographed by Bud Moore); I was given credit for the picture in the acknowledgements. My car was also fortunate to be pictured on the cover of a book by Peter C. Sessler, Illustrated High Performance Mustang Buyer's Guide. It is also seen on the bottom of pages 81 and 83.
I point this out not to brag, but to allude to the fun I had with this car. It was a rust-free, numbers-matching Georgia car sold originally in Calhoun, Georgia. The seller had replaced the stock factory pistons, which tended to crack well under 30,000 miles, with TRW pieces. It had the shaker hood, front spoiler, slats, rear spoiler, 3.91 Traction-Lok and Magnum 500 wheels. It was an early '70, as it had chrome valve covers and no rear anti-roll bar. The standard black interior had the tach and AM radio. It is still registered in Randy Ram's Boss 302 registry. We haggled over the price and settled on $3,800; try that today. Wish I hadn't sold her, but it's in good hands and I have visiting privileges.
Dave McDuffie
Via e-mail
The Impact of Marketing
I just finished reading the article ''Factory Fresh,'' (HMM#81, June 2010). As a current 1970 Chevelle SS owner, I was especially drawn into this article, for obvious reasons. I have always been fascinated with the advertising for these cars and the history behind it. This article was great to read and gave some insight from behind the scenes. I have had a framed copy of the famous ''staked to the ground'' (or ''Chevelle SS 396: Other cars wish we'd keep it this way'') magazine ad hanging on my wall for years and it's truly my favorite Chevelle ad. In my opinion, this is the greatest muscle car ad of all time, and the tied-down scene speaks for itself not only for this car, but also for the whole muscle car era. Thanks again, and keep up the good work.
Paul DiBacco
Billerica, Massachusetts
The ''Factory Fresh'' article in the June issue brought back memories. I can attest that the photo on the left side of page 86 resulted in the sale of at least one SS.
The summer of 1969 found me stationed on a mountaintop in Vietnam. Each month, my dad would send me car magazines in a care package. I remember seeing the full-page ad and deciding I would own one exactly like the one pictured when I returned to the world. I was discharged the first week of January 1970, and took possession of my dream car the following month: a '70 with four-speed, Posi, buckets, console and cowl-induction hood with flapper. The attached picture was taken in August 1970.
Dennis Ferguson
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Next Generation
I was very pleased to read ''Legacy of Speed,'' HMM #81, June 2010, documenting the father/daughter race team and a new generation of car buffs. As a current high school senior, cars and racing have been in my blood since the time I was born. Our family has three vintage cars, two of which would be considered muscle cars: a 1941 Packard, a 1960 Chevrolet Impala convertible and a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport. The '60 convertible is Suntan Copper and features the 348 big-block with the two-speed automatic Turboglide transmission, whereas the '64 SS is Roman Red with a 283, no power steering and a two-speed automatic Powerglide transmission. I continually find myself working on these cars, and I absolutely love driving them around, especially to school. When was the last time you've seen a '60s muscle car in your high school parking lot?
The article really struck me because of my age. Only 18 years old and pursuing a mechanical engineering degree (through the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana), I really draw a crowd at car shows and have been complimented many times over my love of cars. This love is especially unique for me, as I am the co-author of Blue Islands Raceway Park, a book by Arcadia Publishing on the history of Raceway Park, a quarter-mile speedway in Chicago's south suburbs. The book, which documents the 62-year history of the track, was released in February of 2010; it's chock-full of vintage muscle, including Chevelles, Camaros and Impalas.
It's great to be a part of a new generation of muscle car enthusiasts, not only through the Impalas, but also through the book and preserving the history of Chicago-area racing.
Sam Beck
Hammond, Indiana
Mod Mach
The ''Images Past'' July 1969 photo shows wife Patricia and our new, off-the-lot '69 Mustang Mach 1, purchased for about $4,500 from Metro Ford of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I sold the Mach 1 in 1975 with about 60,000 miles on it, but fortunately for me, Patricia is still navigating at my side 41 years later, now in our 1969 Shelby.
Larry Louis
British Columbia, Canada
Time Capsules
I know you can appreciate some old Pontiac iron like I appreciate reading your articles every month. I would love to share these old rides with your readers. Hopefully someday they will be nice enough to be featured in HMM. I am the second owner on both of these: The GTO was purchased new at Pauls Pontiac here in Pocatello, Idaho, and the Grand Prix was bought new in Salt Lake City. I got the GTO in 1983 after it had been totaled by a fire truck; the good news was that it only had 41K miles on it. The Grand Prix I picked up in 1992, then restored the paint, bumpers, suspension, exhaust, brakes and lots of little other things.
I realize the GTO is a 1968 and did not come with the hood tach or the wing, but I figured no harm, no foul. The GTO has the Protect-O-Plate and all kinds of little treasures in the glove box, like the Race to Space game piece from 1967, which has never been opened up. When I bought the car, the back seat was full of those green stamps--the previous owner did not throw anything away. The Grand Prix is a 1969 Model J and is mostly a survivor; the interior is almost completely original, and has a host of options: A/C, power windows, tilt, buckets, console, AM-FM, Rally II wheels, plus it has the original engine, trans and so on.
Dan Zausch
Pocatello, Idaho

This article originally appeared in the August, 2010 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.